I have always been cursed with a sweet tooth and sweet rationing hit me hard. i don't recall the NAAFI issue abroad ever including sweets, it was usually chocolate bars that came up, but I do remember that when we moved over to the American front for the Cassino action we sometimes got Hershey Bars. Ron
Here is a little story from Ron Tee's book "A British Soldier Remembers" "Jelly Babies in the Trenches" April-May 1944 " Now a little bit about the NAAFI. While in action, the NAAFI came to us in the field along with our food supplies once every few weeks. One of the visits stands out. We had left our cars and were dug into a hillside to hold the line while the infantry was attacking the Germans in the valley below. After it was all over and we could see white flagged ambulances from both sides picking up the wounded, the NAAFI arrived. We never knew what we would get. Sometimes sergeants received a whiskey ration, (one bottle to be shared between so many), while other ranks got beer. Other times it was candy, so it was always a surprise. The candy was usually Rowntree or Cadbury chocolate bars, tins of English toffee, or boiled sweets. This time we were given a number of boxes between us, and when we opened them, surprise, surprise! What a sight to see, dozens of rough, tough soldiers sitting in their trenches eating Jelly Babies! " Lesley
Lesley If you mention Ron Tee's name you are preaching to the converted Read about him and his map here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/64/a2156564.shtml Ron
Sweets virtually disappeared from the shelves in Australia around 1940 just as I was starting to take an interest in buying my own with a bit of pocket money. The only things available were barley sugar twists and toffee bars called grandma toffee - quite nice and malty but definitely not chewy. Didn't see chocolate until well after the war - probably didn't do any harm anyway.
I always said that sweet rayioning helped me have good teeth. Thank's to the American soldiers we managed to get some gum, although we didn't see many in our area.
I'm researching rationing at the moment and found this cute clip on pathe news; http://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-end-of-sweet-rationing-aka-sweets-off-ration/query/rationing
My wife does not know it ended, ten soft centers one after the other out of the Quality Street tin at Xmas and it snatched away, rationing still exists in my house :mad111: lofty
The only way to deal with chocolate in our house is not to have any at all. Have I understood this right? Sweets came off rationing in 1949 and everybody went so mad for them that they had to go back on ration and stayed there until 1953.
No I clearly remember the end of sweet rationing. The process of de-rationing was started in 1948 but it didn't apply to sweets until 1953. We were very poor but I was given a whole sixpence to spend, a small fortune in those days especially to me. I bought the biggest bar of chocolate I could find (not sure if I'd even tasted it before) but I wanted to enjoy the anticipation of eating it for as long as possible so I put it under my pillow. It melted into a revolting gooey mess (for which I had to answer to my Mother) but I would not be deterred from eating it and a life long love affair started.
Given what we read about our health today may be we should reintroduce rationing, although reading earlier posts seems it has already happened in some homes already. Brian
good day jettisoning,05:36am.05may,2013.08:36am.re:end of sweet rationing.(ww2).it was not that bad you got use to not having sweets,after all if there not there you do without,when I joined an American aircraft carrier,they had what they called a P.X.on the canteen flat,the first time I went to by cigarrets they gave us 2 packs a day free,chocolate and sweets any amount you wanted,nothing was over 5cents,it was great for a while,then you did not bother with them,strange when you could not get them you wanted them,and when you had them,you did not bother,those were the days,regards bernard85
Hi Bernard You are spot on........ if you can't get it, you don't miss it As a kid and an avid supporter of Tottenham Hotspurs and the local cinema fleapit I used to just love peanuts. As the war developed these just disappeared from view and I was not to see them again until 78 Div had a month in Egypt and the following happened to me.
Mark Twain once wrotr "Life does not consist mainly, or even largely, of facts and happenings. Life consists of the storm of thoughts that are forever coursing through one's mind" With that in mind, I hope you will forgive me bumping this thread simply because it records one of my favourite ww2 memories. Plus there is dear old Bernard adding his two pennies worth. ! Ron
I remember buying a box of Newberry Fruits in Swindon for my girlfriend,now my wife, for Christmas 1952 leave, while based at RAF Yatesbury. (Interestingly shops in Swindon had price tags both in sterling and the US $ to accommodate the number of USAF personnel stationed in the area) As regards chocolate,from what I remember it was the last sweet to come off ration....it was always included in flying rations as it was during the war.It must have been while chocolate was still on ration in 1953 that our squadron navigation/bomber leader....an ex Pathfinder.... sought me out and gave me a bar of chocolate as a gesture for calibrating/setting up the H2S from which he had a bullseye on the bombing range.
Hi, I can remember my dear departed Mum giving a thrupney bit and a Ration Book and telling me to run up to Runnigans shop on Mitchell Street in Walker, Newcastle-on-Tyne to buy some sweets. Dear memories Regards, Mick D.
Sweet rationing was distinct from other food rationing, in that the coupons were the ones that could be used without producing the whole ration book. They were called "personal points", printed on yellow pages tucked at the back of the ration book, in such a way that they could be pulled out to make a very slim booklet on its own, bearing its owner's name and details. The principle was that while the family shopper - usually Mother or Ma - looked after the main books for the whole family, Father could look after his own Personal Points, and so could older children. It was illegal for shopkeepers to accept any other form ration book pages which had been separated from the book. Personal Points did not have to be separated from the book. They could be left in, if that was more convenient.
